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RETORT 


OF 


THE COMMITTEE OF THE OVERSEERS 


HARVARD COLLEGE, 


APPOINTED TO VISIT 


THE MEDICAL SCHOOL 


IN 1849. 


BOSTON: 

PRINTED BY JOHN WILSON, SCHOOL STREET. 

1850. 





IN BOARD OR OVERSEERS, 


February 1, 1849. 

Voted, That James Jackson, M.D. John C. Warren, M.D. Augustus A. 
Gould, M.D. Robert W. Hooper, M.D. and John Bacon, M.D. be a Com¬ 
mittee to visit the Medical School, and to examine the Anatomical Museum. 


IN BOARD OE OVERSEERS, 

February 7, 1850. 

Ordered, That the Report of the Committee appointed to visit the Medi 
cal School, and to examine the Anatomical Museum, be printed. 

Attest, 

ALEXANDER YOUNG, 

GIFT 

MARGARET W. CUSHIW6 
JAN- 26, 1938 


Secretary. 



REPORT. 


The Committee appointed by the Honorable and Reverend 
Overseers of the University in Cambridge to visit the Medical 
School, and to examine the Anatomical Museum, have 
attended to that duty, and report as follows: — 

As this is the first instance in which a Special Committee 
has been appointed by the Overseers of the University to 
examine the state of the Medical School, it may not be im¬ 
proper to glance at the origin and history of this institution, 
before describing its present state. 

It is well known that this School owed its origin to the 
late Dr. John Warren. He first gave private lectures on 
Anatomy in Boston, and his success was such as to call the 
attention of the College Government to the subject. 

Just before the termination of the American Revolution, 
three medical professors were appointed; and they com¬ 
menced their lectures in the year 1783. 

Dr. Warren was Professor of Anatomy and Surgery; Dr. 
Aaron Dexter was Professor of Materia Medica and Che¬ 
mistry; and Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse was Professor of 
the Theory and Practice of Physic. 

This was the first School established in our College for 
professional education. The gentlemen before mentioned 



4 


were the only teachers in this School for more than twenty 
years. 

Until 1810, the lectures were delivered in Cambridge. 
They were attended by medical students, and by such of the 
Senior Sophisters as were willing to pay a small fee for 
the privilege. The lectures were given annually, in the au¬ 
tumn, and the length of the term was six weeks. The num¬ 
ber of students attending these lectures seldom exceeded 
twenty. 

If this was the day of small things in some respects, 
it was far different in other views of it. The number of 
medical students was small; but these students received im¬ 
portant instruction, such as had not been enjoyed previously 
in any part of New England, and to a very limited extent 
only in any part of our country. If the means of instruc¬ 
tion, and the time devoted to it, were also small, they were 
faithfully used. The value of instructions, which could be 
furnished by a Medical School, especially in the demonstra¬ 
tive branches of medical science, became known and duly 
estimated. A desire was created for more full instruction; 
but that desire could not be gratified at once. 

In 1783, and for ten years afterwards, the country was 
very poor; and the labors of the medical professors, espe¬ 
cially the time and labor of the professor of Anatomy, were 
very inadequately compensated. All honor is due to these 
pioneers, who laid the foundation of this School, in a new 
country, destitute of the many aids to be found among us in 
the present state of affairs. 

In contrast to these small beginnings, the Committee will 
describe briefly the present state of the School. Instead of 
three professors, it now has seven. These give instruction 


5 


in the following branches of science connected with Medicine 
and Surgery, viz. in Anatomy and Physiology, in Chemistry, 
in Materia Medica, in Pathological Anatomy, in Medical 
Jurisprudence, in the theory and practice of Obstetrics, in 
the theory and practice of Surgery, and in the theory and 
practice of Medicine; with the addition of Clinical instruc¬ 
tion in the two last-named branches at the Massachusetts 
General Hospital. 

The lecture-term is now four months in duration. The 
lectures are delivered in Boston, in the building lately erected 
in Grove-street, and known by the name of the Massachu¬ 
setts Medical College. This building contains lecture-rooms 
of adequate size, a chemical laboratory, a room for pursuing 
the study of Practical Anatomy, and a large Anatomical 
Museum. Each professor procures, at his own expense, 
whatever he believes to be conducive to the instruction of 
the pupils. 

In addition to the advantages thus afforded, the pupils are 
allowed free access to the Massachusetts General Hospital, 
where they have an opportunity to qualify themselves for 
the actual duties of their profession. There they witness 
all the great surgical operations, and see the whole treatment 
of both surgical and medical cases fully and systematically 
conducted. 

The Committee believe it is only justice to say, that the 
advantages afforded at this School, and the character of its 
present teachers, are such as to place it in the front rank of 
similar institutions in this country. Yet the number of its 
pupils, and the emoluments received by the professors, are 
both much below those of several Schools in the Middle and 
Western States. The principal compensation is derived 
from the pupils, and must vary with their number. 


6 


New England furnishes a sufficient number of medical 
students annually to give an abundant support to an institu¬ 
tion like this. But there are several other Schools in New 
England, which are very respectable, though not possessed 
of advantages equal to those enjoyed here. These Schools 
are situated in towns or cities much smaller than our metro¬ 
polis, and the expense of living in such places is much less 
than in Boston. With the many students who are deficient 
in property, this circumstance has great weight; and espe¬ 
cially among those students who live at a distance from this 
place, and near any of the other Schools. From these 
causes, the number of pupils in this School will never equal 
that in some other parts of the country. 

In regard to the pupils of this School, it deserves to be 
noted, that a large portion of them come to their professional 
studies under greater advantages, from previous education, 
than the pupils of most of the Medical Schools in the United 
States. To this circumstance, probably, it may be attributed 
that an unusually large proportion of the graduates of the 
Medical School of this University have become professors in 
other Medical Schools. 

During the academical year 1848-9, the Medical Lectures 
were delivered as usual, commencing on the first Monday in 
November, and continuing seventeen weeks. The lectures 
were omitted four days in the week of the public Thanks¬ 
giving, on Christmas-day, and on the first Wednesday in 
January, commonly called Election-day. The lectures, 
examinations, and other exercises, occupying from an hour 
to an hour and a half each, by the several professors, w r ere 
in number as follows : — 


\ 

3 


7 


By Walter Ciianning, M.D. Professor of Obstetrics and Medical Juris¬ 
prudence .72 

By Jacob Bigelow, M.D. Professor of Materia Medica and Lecturer on 

Clinical Medicine.79 

By George Hayward, M.D. Professor of Surgery .... 64 

By John W. Webster, M.D. Erving Professor of Chemistry and Min¬ 
eralogy .62 

By John Ware, M.D. Hersey Professor of the Theory and Practice of 

Medicine.62 

By John B. S. Jackson, M.D. Professor of Pathological Anatomy . 17 

By Oliver W. Holmes, M.D. Parkman Professor of Anatomy and 

Physiology.92 

Total number of lectures.448 

The number of pupils in attendance on the lectures in 
1848-9 was one hundred and twenty-six. 

At the close of the lectures, Dr. Hayward resigned the 
office of Professor of Surgery; and Dr. Henry J. Bigelow 
was subsequently appointed as his successor. 

The Committee were charged with the examination of the 
Anatomical Museum in the Massachusetts Medical College. 
To this examination they gave particular attention ; and they 
are very happy to report, that they found this valuable col¬ 
lection in perfect order. The specimens have been system¬ 
atically arranged by the Curator in the ample room where 
they are now placed, and the Committee cannot refrain from 
commending the scientific beauty of this arrangement. 

During the last year, some valuable additions have been 
made to this Museum; and the day may not be far distant 
when its floor and its walls will be insufficient for the articles 
which will be gathered to it. 

All which is respectfully submitted. 

James Jackson, \ 

J. C. Warren, / ^ ... 

. . ^ ’ > (tommittee. 

A. A. Gould, ( 

R. W. Hooper, / 


Boston , Jan. 3, 1850. 









